Baseball Reflections » Pete’s Picks

MLB Umpires Holding Online Auction to Benefit Children

Peter Schiller — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 11:14:24 +0000

Priceless Memorabilia, One-of-a-Kind Experiences Highlight Online Charity Event

New York, NY (March 9, 2010)—A Major League Baseball jersey signed by President

Barack Obama, the chance for you and friends to watch batting practice from the field, a

pre-concert meet-and-greet with the Black Eyed Peas including floor seating, tickets to

the 2010 All-Star Game, and “Lunch with an Ump” are just a few of the more than 100

items up for grabs in the UMPS CARE Charities online auction at www.UmpsCare.com.

Sports fans—or anyone who loves a sports fan—can bid on these unique experiences and

spectacular packages, including signed memorabilia from sports greats Jim Rice, Harmon

Killebrew, Frank Robinson, Joe Morgan, Rod Carew, Randy Johnson, and Nolan Ryan.

The auction starts on March 12 and runs through March 22, and there’s something for

everyone. Items include baseballs, jerseys, gloves, and other memorabilia.

There are plenty of items for the non-baseball fan as well, including golf outings, the

President Obama signed jersey, a VIP pass to sit in on the Mike Gallagher Show, a photo

and DVD autographed by Josh Duhamel, lunch with Maxine Clark, the “Chief Executive

Bear” of Build-A-Bear Workshop®, and others. A selection of signed hockey and

football memorabilia is also up for bid.

All proceeds from the auction will support the UMPS CARE Charities youth programs,

including tickets to big league baseball games for children awaiting adoption and Build-

A-Bear Workshops for hospitalized children coping with serious illnesses. UMPS CARE

Charities is the official charity of Major League Baseball umpires.

“Our online auction gives sports fans the opportunity to participate in some once-in-a-

lifetime experiences with their favorite sports heroes while helping seriously ill and at-

risk children,” said MLB Umpire Jim Reynolds. “We urge fans to visit the UMPS CARE

Charities website during the course of the auction—and come back often!”

For more information or to bid on items, go to www.UmpsCare.com. Winning bidders

will be notified after March 22.

CONTACT: Samuel Dearth

Executive Director, UMPS CARE Charities

518-768-2790 (phone)

703-314-3833 (cell)

Samuel@UmpsCare.com (e-mail)

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How To Preserve An Autographed Bat

Peter Schiller — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 01:00:08 +0000

Image by basheertome via Flickr

This is a video

that tells you

how to preserve

a signed baseball bat.

How to Preserve Autographs on a Baseball Bat — powered by eHow.com

Was this helpful to you? Yes or No?

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Baseball Bloggers Alliance (BBA) Now on Blog Talk Radio!

Peter Schiller — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 23:30:00 +0000

The writers of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance would like to announce that they are taking to the airwaves.
Beginning Tuesday, February 16th at 11 pm Eastern, BBA Baseball Talk can be found at Blog Talk Radio. This one-hour show will discuss the big stories of the day in major league baseball and other baseball-related topics. Callers are welcome to chime in at 347-884-8690.

: Image via CrunchBase

Your hosts for the first edition will be BBA founder Daniel Shoptaw, who writes at C70 At The Bat, and Ron Kaplan of Ron Kaplan’s Baseball Bookshelf.

Hosts will rotate on a weekly basis and the time and date of the show may move depending on the requirements of that week’s hosts.

The Baseball Bloggers Alliance is a confederation of 132 blogs working together for collaboration and discussion possibilities.

Editor’s Note: At some point, Peter Schiller of Baseball Reflections, a member of the BBA, will be either a co-host or guest on a future BBA Baseball Talk show. Stay tuned for more details of when that might be.

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A Post In Celebration of President’s Day

Peter Schiller — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 11:05:35 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

What If There Were Baseball In Colonial Times?

The Coaching Staff

Manager: George Washington – a born leader who will make mistakes along the way (fans would have criticized his moves as a baseball manager just like they do in today’s game, but he is the master of learning from his mistakes. I’d take our first president to lead my team to the world series any day!

Bench Coach: Benjamin Franklin – he strikes me as the Don Zimmer type (in his role as the Yankees Bench coach under Joe Torre).

Bullpen Coach: Caesar Rodney – As an officer of the Delaware militia during the French and Indian War and the American Revolution, his leadership in the face of adversity will be most valuable.

Team Dr./Trainer/Physical Therapist: Dr. William Rickman – he was a prominent figure in the American Revolution, known best as the first Director of Hospitals of the Continental Army during the war. This title would later evolve into the position of Surgeon General.

Team Treasurer: Alexander Hamilton – first United States Secretary of the Treasury, need I say more? Somebody needs to take care of the team’s financial situation, who would be better qualified?

Chaplin: Rev. John Witherspoon – He was a preacher already so this one wasn’t much of a stretch at all!

Beat Reporter: Thomas Paine – Look what he did for the cause of independence with “Common Sense”, then think of what he could do for a ball club. Just make sure that management is on his good side!

The Starting Position Players

C: John Adams – An influential figure in the cause for independence and a former president who was known for his honesty and ability to speak his mind whenever necessary (for the cause). For these reasons, plus his physical appearance (he looked like he’d be a catcher, short and stout), I’d trust his honesty in telling the manager when the pitcher is out of gas. He’d be a great on field manager as is needed at the position. He talks a lot like a good catcher, he’d need to tell players when to cut off throws, etc. His political prowess would work well with the home plate umpire, too. I also hear he was good in the trenches, just ask the crew of the Continental Navy frigate Boston on their voyage to France in 1778.

1B: James Monroe - He was involved, as our country’s fifth president, with contributing so many “firsts” I thought it was best to put him at the position with the most action aside from catcher. As president, he was involved in the decision to declare Maine and Florida as independent states and was also in command for the Missouri Compromise (1820), and the profession of the Monroe Doctrine (1823), declaring U.S. opposition to European interference in the Americas, as well as breaking all ties with France remaining from the War of 1812.

2B: Ethan Allen – a key component to the capturing of Fort Ticonderoga and was well known as a guerrilla leader.

3B: Roger Sherman - The only man to sign all four great state papers of the U.S.: the Continental Association, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution. He becomes the rock of our infield at the hot corner.

SS: Samuel Adams – His zeal for independence shows me that he had an untiring amount of energy for the pursuits he was passionate about and he was a jack of all trades sort of like most shortstops.

LF: James Madison – As he fought for checks and balances in our nation’s legislature, he stands for a balanced OF that I boast would be difficult to best by any other. He was also our fourth president.

CF: Richard Henry Lee – Like Samuel Adams, his zeal for independence was a driving factor in my selecting him for this position. Although I have to admit, that the way his character was portrayed in the film 1776 did sway my perception of Lee as a tall, energetic figure which I consider to be well suited for this position.

RF: Henry Knox – I hear he had a cannon! Just ask the Redcoats in Boston Harbor in1776…

The Main Pitching Staff

I’m going with a three man rotation here, because that’s that’s the way it would have been done back then. The Continental/US Army back then was always under staffed!

Staff Ace: Thomas Jefferson – The Ace writer of the Continental Congress is also my staff Ace. Like there was no other man the delegates would rather have to draft the Declaration of Independence, there is also no other man I’d have leading this team onto the field in an important game.

SP2: Patrick Henry – A fierce competitor whether it be in the court, legislature or (in this case, the ball field) leads me to filling the second slot in the rotation with Mr. Patrick Henry of Virginia.

SP3: John Hancock – The President of the Continental Congress is my choice as the third starter on this staff for his leadership and dedication to the cause of Independence.

RP: John Jay – our first Supreme Court Justice can spell relief for me any day.

Closer: John Marshall – just like he closed out court cases in the Supreme Court, our most heralded Supreme Court Justice is my choice as the team’s closer.

Special note: If there were umpires on this list, Marshall and Jay would top that list with Marshall as the crew chief!

Feel free to agree or disagree with these selections, but either way, please tell us why. Also, please add your own list, borrowing from mine as needed in the comments sections below. I think this can be a fun activity this President’s Day! I hope you enjoy it.

Happy President’s Day!

Special note: most links and the text surrounding them were taken from Wikipedia.

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BackyardBall: A book on Whiffleball, aka Plastic Ball

Guest — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 18:18:33 +0000

Backyard Ball

By Thomas P. Hannon, Jr.

This is a fun filled book about the world of Plastic Baseball or Wiffle Ball. It includes all the information you need to start playing as a family game or serious league play. Use this book to help rediscover your Backyard and read about people who actually built replica fields in theirs. Read the story about Little Ebbets Field and how it was built. The book has pictures, how to guides and so much more!

Backyard Ball also has a Free Product Catalog, the Catalog covers all the products you can use, consider it the Consumer Reports for the Equipment, there are no sponsors.

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Former Phillies Player, Dave Hollins, Tell His Diabetes Story

Peter Schiller — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:25:35 +0000

3B Dave Hollins

I have recently decided that Baseball Reflections will start broadening our horizons just a bit. Call it one of our 2010 resolutions. We will now be bringing you selected videos in a more frequent basis than we have in our previous two years of operation. We hope this ads to your enjoyment of this site! This changed started with last week’s addition of the video on Boston’s captain, catcher Jason Varitek.

This one is on former third baseman, most notably for the Phillies, Dave Hollins, tell his diabetes story in this video interview.

Pro Baseball Player, Dave Hollins, Tell His Diabetes Story on Howcast

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Baseball Reflection’s Affiliation with Amazon

Peter Schiller — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 18:45:38 +0000

: Image via CrunchBase

As some of you have noticed, we have joined the Amazon affiliate program some time ago. What you may not know is what’s available through Baseball Reflections.com so this post is here to tell you just that!

For starters, you can view and purchase from our aStores which is where you can find pages upon pages of books and movies on baseball (documentaries, biographies, etc.) as well as baseball gear and apparel. This aStores can be found above our logo on the right or at the links in this post.

Over on the right sidebar you will find a carousel of my top 10 picks of baseball books. Across the page from that on the left sidebar you will find a carousel of Alyssa Milano’s MLB Touch line of clothing. If you scroll down from there on the left you will find two more carousels. The first are my top 10 picks from the up and coming Akadema brand of gloves, bats and more followed by a list of some of my favorite baseball movies further down that left sidebar.

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Akadema’s Praying Mantis Catcher’s Mitt, Designed by Hall of Famer Gary Carter

Peter Schiller — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 11:26:58 +0000

Here is the next installment in my series of recommended Akadema Gloves. This, like the last one earlier this month (the Prodigy AOZ 91) was designed by a Hall of Famer, this time, catcher Gary Carter who use to play for the Expos, Mets, Giants and Dodgers before finishing his playing career back with the Expos.

I personally have two Akadema glove and can attest to their quality. They sent me a Funnel infielder’s glove followed by a first baseman’s glove from their ProSoft series which is probably the best glove I have ever owned as far as quality and feel.

But this glove is the AGC-98 For players ages 9-13 and here is the official description:

32” circumference pattern, Spiral-Lock web, open back Akadema’s exclusive Grasp-Clasp wrist system, and deep pocket designed for the serious youth catcher. Designed by Hall of Famer Gary Carter, the AGC-98 features new patent pending “Stress Wedge” technology, located between the index finger and thumb, the Praying Mantis offers shock absorbing protection for the hand against injury and sting when receiving the ball. The Praying Mantis also offers two additional “Finger Hammocks” allowing the fingers to be firmly positioned and more secure in the glove. Additional features include the “Double-sided Slim Padding” allowing for increased pocket size and easier ball retention. Uniquely designed shape allows the throwing hand easier access into the pocket, resulting in a quicker glove to hand transfer and faster times to second base. The Praying Mantis also features a “Double Flexhinge” which makes the glove snap closed on contact. Hand-crafted with select U.S. Steerhide pocket, AkademaLyte leather on the back, and Akadema ¼” Rawhide black lacing.

So with pitchers and catchers reporting in around six weeks I thought it was appropriate to help promote the Akadema AGC-98 in time for the young catcher in your life that needs a new mitt. Please follow the link either in this post or on the carosel at the bottom left of this page to place your orders (yes, I do get a commission from sales, but nothing else). If you act now, you just ay be able to get it in time for him/her to break it in by the start of their 2010 season.

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Akadema’s Prodigy Series Youth Baseball Gloves

Peter Schiller — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 02:52:13 +0000

Prodigy Design Series AOZ 91, For players ages 9-13

Anyone who has followed my writing closely from the start or who happens to know me personally should know that I am a HUGE Ozzie Smith fan! His Cardinals number is on my HS class ring as my favorite position to play in HS was SS. So, when I found out that he worked in conjunction with Akadema I got excited…then I found out it was to design a kid’s glove series (ages 9-13). That’s cool and all, but I wanted an Ozzie Smith design of my own…oh well.

Anyway, back to the gloves…

Even though Christmas is over, baseball season is right around the corner! Spring Training starts in about six weeks and little leagues (depending on what part of the country you live) can’t be too far behind. So, if you know a young all star in need of a new glove designed by an All Star Hall of Famer, then you need to follow the links provided and purchase your little gold glover a Prodigy Glove by Ozzie Smith and Akadema! You’ll be glad you did!

The Reptilian

The AOZ 91 : 11.25″ Youth Reptilian®. B-hive web, open back with Grasp Clasp System, deep pocket. Ozzie Smith Signature Glove. Akadema’s Prodigy Design Series has quickly gained a reputation as the benchmark in quality and design for serious youth ballplayers. Made with a combination of Akadema’s US Steerhide and exclusive AkademaLyte leather, the Prodigy Design Series is both light and durable. Hand-crafted for a quick and easy break-in period, the Prodigy Design Series also uses the Akadema Grasp Clasp wrist system, making the glove more manageable for today’s youth ballplayer.

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A Case for a Baseball Hall of Fame Induction

Peter Schiller — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 10:47:37 +0000

: Image via Wikipedia

Why haven’t the BBWAA elected the closer with the third highest saves total with 478? The only two guys ahead of him are still playing (Hoffman and Rivera) and former inductees whom are below him on the list are Eckersley, Fingers, Gossage, Sutter and Wilhelm. The next closest player is John Franco and he played longer than him and he bests Franco with 54 more saves and bests Eckersley by 88.

His career ERA was 3.03, he finished 802 games with a SO/9 ratio of 8.7which factors out to being 1251 K’s in 1289.1 innings pitched. To go along with that he was in 7 All Star games, got MVP and Cy Young Award votes in 4 years.

If you haven’t guessed by now, I’m talking about former closer Lee Smith!

What do you think about the possible induction of Lee Smith into the Baseball Hall of Fame?

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